Mixed Exam Style Questions Flashcards
Explain two ways in which belief about creation influences Christians today. [4 marks]
- Some understand the Genesis account to mean that God planned every detail of
creation, so influenced to believe that everything is included in God’s plan + that their lives are predestined + others believe that God’s plan included free will
for humanity. - Some Christians believe that the creation stories are unscientific myths / so they accept the Big Bang theory / some are eventually
influenced to abandon their faith / others believing that God used scientific laws to create the universe.
Explain two Christian teachings about sin.
SoA
[5 marks]
- Understand sin as any action against God’s teachings / eg murder which is wrong not because it is against the law but because God forbids it as being a sin.
- You shall not murder
- Some Christians teach that humans are born with a tendency to commit sin /
from the story of Adam and Eve / who sinned by breaking God’s instruction not to
eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
‘For Christians, it is impossible to understand the nature of God.’
3 points for and 3 against
- For: Christians do not agree about God’s nature / so by definition it cannot be
understood. - Omnipotent and benevolent but lets evil exist?
- God is believed to exist as a Trinity – Christians describe this as a
‘mystery’ because hard to understand how one being can exist in three distinct forms. - Against: cosmological argument says the universe exists / so the nature of whoever made it can be
understood by looking at its design (we understand fibbonacci sequence so we understand that part of God) and the fact that it was made out of ‘nothing’
The nature of the Trinity is a spiritual truth, can relate to the persons of Father, Son and Spirit.
Question of evil can be answered: without evil there is no challenge, no improving yourself and can be viewed that God is like a strict parent showing hard love for the better.
Explain two reasons why Christian churches help people who are being persecuted.
SoA
(5)
- It is a virtue of Christians to be loving, compassionate, sympathetic, so this includes helping those being persecuted
- Christians believe that they are united by faith, so this must include giving help to persecuted members of the faith.
- We “are one body in Christ”/Parable of the Sheep and Goats
‘The celebration of Holy Communion (Eucharist) is the most important part of
Christian life.’
3 for and 3 against
For:
* Holy Communion is a sacrament and is (alongside baptism) one of two
sacraments authorised explicitly by Jesus: Do this in remembrance of me. Not good, faithful without it
* Holy Communion is an act of fellowship between Christians everywhere / so Christians throughout the world worship in solidarity / churches make
everyone welcome, regardless of age, gender or race, etc.
* Re-enacting the Last Supper makes it real and authoritative for believers.
Against:
* Celebrating Holy Communion is only one part of Christian life, and not as critical as faith, good works, prayer, etc: ‘faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead’
* Parable of Sheep and Goats tells them that acting compassionately is more imp
* 10 Commandments more imp. because rules directly from God to reach Heaven
* Could argue that Easter more imp.
Explain two contrasting religious beliefs about the nature of marriage.
(4)
- Christians believe it is a life-long union blessed by God that is a sacrament in some branches.
- This means that they think its necessary in being a good Christian and fulfilling an important religious duty
- Buddhism: marriage regarded as a social contract /not seen as a religious duty / or a sacred act.
- It is not at all necessary and doesn’t reflect anything of their Buddhist identity, but should follow Buddhist teachings like showing metta
Explain two religious beliefs about the roles of men and women.
(5)
- No difference in the practice of Buddhism for men and women / many Buddhists believe that men and women should have equal status.
- They have equal roles and Dalai Lama said he saw no reason why a future Dalai Lama could not be a woman.
- Traditional Christians take ‘your husband…will rule over you’ to argue that men are the
head of the family / women should mainly stay at home and care for the children. - Also mean that they cannot be bishops or other high ranking church position
‘The most important purpose of a family is to educate children in a faith.’
3 for 3 against
For:
* Religion is a key part of a person’s identity so teaches children about their faith and gives a purpose in life.
* Way for the religion to continue.
* Provides teachings on morals and about community - better equiped to go to society
Against:
* Buddhists believe cultivating love for eachother and providing good env more imp than faith
* Main purpose of a family is procreation: Be fruitful and multiply
* Family may not be religious / meaning raising children in a faith is irrelevant.
Explain two contrasting religious views about how the universe began.
[4 marks]
- God created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh day (making it holy) / some Christians believe
that this is literally true. - Some Christians believe God caused the Big Bang and created the world using laws of science over billions of years, so Genesis is metaphorical/poetic.
Explain two religious beliefs about the use of animals for food.
SoA
[5 marks]
- Some Christians believe animals are for the use of humans because humans given dominion over the earth.
- Some Christains believe it is wrong to harm animals because it goes against ‘love thy nieghbour’. All of God’s creation is equal in His eyes, so animals should be treated with same respect and love as we show eachother.
Explain two ways in which belief in hell influences Christians today.
[4 marks]
- Christians are influenced by the belief that they will be judged when they die / and that being sent to hell is a real possibility, so they may follow JC’s teachings.
- Some find the idea of hell so horrible that they reject it / believing that it was only metaphorical and that everyone will be saved by their benevolent God.
Explain two Christian beliefs about the role of Jesus Christ in salvation.
SoA
[5 marks]
- God accepted Jesus’s sacrifice as an ‘atonement’ for human sin / so that original sin no longer destroyed lives and salvation became possible (substitution theory)
- Salvation exists through believing in Jesus and no one else because fixed our relationship with God: ‘there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.’
Could also talk about ransom theory
‘The resurrection of the dead is the most important Christian belief’
3 for and 3 against
For:
* Suffering and death are the worst things / so if they
believe that the dead are resurrected, then they no longer have to fear suffering or death.
* Fear separation from family after death / so belief in resurrection to heaven means that they will be reunited eventually.
* St Paul states God raised Jesus from the dead / and if he had not done so, then the dead are not raised either / meaning faith would be futile, for Christians are still in their sins and cannot live eternally for following JC’s teachings / so Paul shows that
the resurrection is most imp because the entire faith would collapse without it
Against:
* Belief in God as Creator is the most important / since for
resurrection to happen, people have to be created first.
* Some might argue that the most important is God’s benevolence because if God is not good then there will be probably be no
resurrection.
* Incarnation more because without ‘for God so loved the world he gave his only Son’ there would be no JC and salvation needed for being resurrected on Judgement Day to go to Heavan/Hell.
Explain two contrasting ways in which pilgrimage is experienced at Lourdes.
[4 marks]
- Some bathe in the spring because they hope they will be cured or have their sins washed away
- Go to celebrate/honour Mary because Mary had appeared to St. Bernadette and commanded her to build the church there
Explain two reasons why evangelism is important for the Christian Church.
SoA
[5 marks]
- It was commanded to them by JC through Great Commission when he said ‘go and make disciples of
all nations’ - So they must obey him because JC is the exemplar for all Christians to learn from
- It saves people from damnation through accepting JC teachings, so churches find this important because saving people from sin is a loving thing to do - a key Christian trait
